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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26296543">Once Upon A Time</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Respect_Potatoes/pseuds/Respect_Potatoes'>Respect_Potatoes</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hetalia: Axis Powers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Car Accidents, Cheating, Implied/Referenced Cheating, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Misunderstandings, Past Relationship(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 08:52:56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,601</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26296543</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Respect_Potatoes/pseuds/Respect_Potatoes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's not actually a fic, it's more of a prompt? I might write it in the future, but I'm too lazy and unmotivated rn. If you wanna write this, feel free to ask for specific details and permission.</p>
<p>If it were a fic this would be my summary: Matthew and Al used to be the dream couple in Uni, high school sweethearts, as well as childhood best friends. Until one mistake leads to the downfall of this fateful match. Years later, after an accident brings them together, it is up to nurse Bonnefoy to figure out the entanglement of misunderstandings between the two. Will this end in a happily ever after?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>America/Canada (Hetalia), America/Japan (Hetalia), Canada/Prussia (Hetalia), England/France (Hetalia)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Once Upon A Time</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ame gets in an accident, emergency contact is Canada</p>
<p>Nurse/doctor is France</p>
<p>"I can't believe that hoser still has me as his emergency contact"<br/>France: *in his head* weird but ok<br/>"So iz he your brother or…?"<br/>"Oh! Oh no! I'm afraid it's a bit more... complicated than that"<br/>"Ah, a lover than"<br/>Canada to France awkwardly<br/>"Non actually, he's um...he's my ex"</p>
<p>Let's hit reverse (four years apart)<br/>Mattie and Al grew up in the same neighborhood<br/>Mattie moved in from Canada when he was seven<br/>Officially became friends (then besties) with Al when he was ten<br/>Al made lots of friends, and made them Matties somewhat friends<br/>Mattie realised he had a crush on Al at 13<br/>Al had gotten together with a girl when he was 14 until he was 15 when he found out she was cheating<br/>Stayed single until Mattie finally confessed (by accident) at 17, beginning of school year<br/>Al mostly tried relationship with Mattie to try to avoid making Matties feelings make things awkward for them (and for experimentation cause subconsciously he had always thought Matt looked good)<br/>Al soon realised he had feelings for Mattie too<br/>Still avoided saying I love you, because of past relationship (helped add to future misunderstanding)</p>
<p>Stayed together and went to college together<br/>Known as the romantic childhood and highschool sweethearts around their companions<br/>College was when Mattie came out more and made friends with Gil (Prussia) and Cuba (Carlos Machado)<br/>Al didn't like them (actually only Cuba, really liked Gil) but dealt cause Mattie</p>
<p>Decided to propose to Mattie at 22<br/>Fricked up proposal</p>
<p>Had help from Hungary in setting up venue and getting ring and such<br/>She ended up calling to make sure he hadn’t fucked up with the reservation or chickened out</p>
<p>Mattie accused Al of cheating cause weeks leading up to their break up he acted sus, and realised that Hungary was a girl and believed Al still preferred girls over boys<br/>A couple days prior to date Mattie had overheard this conversation<br/>Person 1: “It wasn’t your fault, you couldn’t have possibly known”<br/>Person 2: “But I should’ve! The signs were all there! How could I have been so blind?!”<br/>Person 1: “You couldn’t have realised, he was your childhood friend, practically there whole life, so of course you wouldn’t have doubted him”<br/>Person 2: “But it was so obvious, the way he avoided me, how he would always talk to people and then tell me not to worry about it! He wouldn’t even look me in the eye when I asked him where’d he’d gone to after going missing for literal hours, Chelsea!”<br/>Person 1: “Sometimes love just makes you ignore the facts, that doesn’t make you any less of a person for falling for his tricks”<br/>Person 2: “*sniff* You know on that last date, he was just so nervous, I think he thought I caught on to him. At first I thought he was just jittery because of a game going on that night, but then he got a call in the middle of our date. I quickly realised he was talking to a women on the phone, and he just had this look on his face that basically spelled relief, and I just- I don’t know, I just tried to confront him about her, like I’d ask ‘Who was that?’, and he’d just respond with ‘No one honey, just a friend.’, that was when I knew something was wrong, cause he only ever called me honey when he did something bad and he was trying to hide it. So that went on for a couple minutes, before he left to the bathroom, and I decided to check his phone, and there it was *large suck in of breath* Jessica with a heart emoji, at first I tried to deny it, but then I read the texts- there were pictures too ya know, and I- I started to cry, and once he came out I threw his phone to his face. He was so shocked, and- and he kept on trying to talk to me, and I just kept on yelling at him and soon enough the staff came to tell us to leave, I was so embarrassed, I just ran away, and then I blocked him and stuff”<br/>Person 1: “C’mon let’s get you home, you’ve already cried enough for today”<br/>Made Mattie doubt and misread Al’s intentions</p>
<p>Mattie tried to ask Al were he would go when he went missing (to plan proposal), and Al avoided looking at Mattie’s eyes cause he knew he’d probably spill the beans, and lied<br/>Made Mattie upset cause he knew Al was lying, but him not looking at Mattie made it worse<br/>Went to fancy french restaurant reserved by Al (Hungary actually) for their ‘anniversary’ (actually for the proposal)</p>
<p>After call, “Al, who was that?”<br/>“O-oh that, that was- no one, just a friend!”<br/>Al went to bathroom a couple minutes after call to calm his nerves, and psyche himself up</p>
<p>Mattie took this time to search through Al’s phone<br/>Found Elizabeta’s name next to a bunch of heart emojis and a ring one (Eliza had done this herself, but Al couldn’t be bothered to change it since she was helping him propose to the love of his life)<br/>Felt betrayal and anger because he thought Al was cheating<br/>Checked texts, but basically only read:</p>
<p>Al: really excited for tonight<br/>Eliza: Me too, can’t believe he hasn’t figured it out yet! *laughing emoji*<br/>Al: *laughing emoji*<br/>Al: i know for being so observant, Mattie can be real oblivious sometimes<br/>Al: better for us anyway<br/>Eliza: He’s so lucky to have you as a boyfriend, makes me kinda jelly.<br/>(referring to how she’s single and that Al spent so much time and money getting this shit set up)<br/>Al: after today he wont call me boyfriend anymore<br/>Eliza: *laughing emoji* You’re so cheesy! But whatever, I got stuck with you anyhow.<br/>Eliza: Now go get ready for your “date”.<br/>Al: don’t call it that please<br/>Al: anyway we still on for tonight?<br/>Eliza: Unless you somehow magically changed the reservations, yes.<br/>Al: *laughing emoji* it’s a date!<br/>(the date was celebratory drinks to celebrate the engagement)</p>
<p>Put phone back before Al saw<br/>Both stayed silent until dessert when Al finally got the courage to speak<br/>“So.. um, Mattie I’ve really been thinking about-”<br/>“Let me stop you right there, if you’re about to say what I think you’re about to say, than save it”<br/>Grabs Al’s phone<br/>“Wha-Mattie?”<br/>“Who the hell is Eliza?!”</p>
<p>Al pales and stutters cause he thinks Mattie figured it out and does not want to marry him<br/>Mattie thinks Al is like this, ‘cause he got caught<br/>Got in a horrible argument<br/>Mattie called Al fat, selfish, and a cheater<br/>Al tried to explain how Eliza was just his friend helping him with something, but started talking back on how Mattie couldn’t possibly know all his friends or friend boundaries, since he barely had any.</p>
<p>“And besides if anybody’s cheating it’s you!”<br/>Said this cause Mattie would defend friends often from Al, more than he would appear to defend Al<br/>(That's a lie cause he always defended Al, even when he was being a jerk (lots of the time when Al wasn't around to defend himself))<br/>(Al only got so mad because he knows what it feels like to be cheated on and he swore he would never do such a thing. And maybe if it had been anybody else, the blowout might not have been as bad, but for his closest friend, his lover, the person who had seen how devastated he had been from the effects of cheating, to accuse him of such a thing, that hurt.)</p>
<p>Mattie got so embarrassed and furious at Al's scandalous accusation, as well as him being ‘invisible’<br/>Threw wine all over Al and ran away<br/>Al of course had to stay behind to apologize and shit<br/>Afterwards went home to wallow in self pity and rage<br/>Had his friends (Ludwig, Eliza, maybe the nordics (???), who knows) take him to a bar next day<br/>Day after bar decided to contact Mattie</p>
<p>Realised he lost his phone<br/>Asked around if friends could contact him<br/>Turns out Matties old phone had been broken and he had to get a new phone (a couple days (2??) before breakup)<br/>So only Al had Mattie's new phone number<br/>And he didn’t memorise it<br/>Tried to ask Matties friends where he was, they denied him, cause they saw how he hurt Matt, and secretly hoped it would separate them, cause they didn't like Al (thought he was a jerk, and that Matt could do so much better)</p>
<p>After running Mattie went home (his own apartment) and tore shit up in fit of fury<br/>Cried to sleep, cried again, until Gil came and got him out of his home to Carlos and Gil's shared house (???)<br/>"I ruined everything, he'll never want to ever talk to me again!"<br/>They tried making him feel better by insulting Al</p>
<p>Only slightly helped<br/>"By this time tomorrow you two will be back to doing gushy mushy couple stuff"<br/>This basically made Mattie encouraged enough to try to talk to Al<br/>Al didn't answer 'cause by this time he lost his phone<br/>"*sobs*"</p>
<p>Next day Al comes around while Matt is out with Gill to get ice cream<br/>"Yeah, he's not here, but if he were I'm sure he'd tell you how horrible of a boyfriend you are- or, well, were"<br/>"You *something maybe slightly sounding racist or threatening*"<br/>Mattie comes in to see Al both insulting and threatening his friend<br/>"AL, YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE! DON'T YOU DARE THREATEN MY FRIENDS!"<br/>Basically tells Al to fuck off and that he regretted ever even becoming friends with such a self centered and bigoted idiot of a man<br/>Breaks Al's heart<br/>"Go away Al"<br/>And he does (go away I mean)</p>
<p>Al eventually finds and gets his phone back, but didn't see voicemails due to function of phone that didn't let voicemails stay longer than 24 hours, unless specifically saved<br/>Only sees missed calls, tries to call Mattie, but Mattie blocked him<br/>Afterwards tries to call or interact for weeks and hears that Mattie is moving somewhere<br/>Tries to confront him, but is stopped by Carlos and Gil who are helping Mattie move<br/>"Mattie, please! I know you're in there, and I know you can hear me, so please, listen to me! I swear I didn't mean any of what I said!"<br/>Mattie silently listens from inside tears streaming down his face<br/>Once they kick Al out with the threat to call security Gil enters and hugs Matt him support and Mattie squeezes him as he sobs<br/>He just lost his best friend</p>
<p>Back to present<br/>Mattie has to stay, ‘cause Arthur (Al’s older cousin) says the fastest he can get there is 9 days (job??)<br/>Reader gets story from flashbacks and word of mouth through Francis<br/>Francis gets these clips and pieces of their past in the meantime, from both accounts and starts getting a little confused, and soon realized there were a lot of misunderstandings on both sides</p>
<p>After Arthur finally arrived Mattie decided to stay just one more day (because even if he hated Al (actually didn’t), that past friendship stopped him from leaving without making at least some peace)<br/>Francis asks Arthur about what happened, but Artie doesn’t know much any way<br/>But he does know that Al was going to propose, something Al hadn’t mentioned, and hadn’t realised Mattie didn’t know<br/>Francis grilled Al on details about ‘that’ day and recognized were the misunderstandings stemmed from</p>
<p>Managed to tell Arthur, and convinced him to set them up<br/>“It’s not my bloody business! Why the bloody hell should I do anything about it, in fact why do you care, that has to be (harrasment? illegal?)!”<br/>“Because I cannot possibly stand by and watch such a passionate relationship go down the drain due to some small errors”<br/>“They’re grown men, I’m sure they can figure it out on their own”<br/>“Do you really want to zee your couzin in such deep sorrow?”<br/>“Well he is more annoying like that, and well no, I don't want to see him like that, but… *sigh* fine I’ll help you with your half-wit scheme” <br/>Set them up to reveal what actually happened in the past</p>
<p>Past: Years go by and Al still hasn't moved on, hasn't gone into another relationship<br/>His friends know why, but he denies it<br/>Only reason they were able to contact Mattie is cause he still had the same number, he only blocked Al &amp; friends, and Al forgot to remove Mattie from his emergency people to call in case he ever got in an accident<br/>Al had a proposal ring made of titanium to represent a strong bond, but plain with one amethyst gemstone (for Mattie’s eyes), cause Mattie wasn’t one for extravagences (and Al probs couldn't afford it). The ring had etched on the inside with Matt &amp; Al 4-05 to represent when they first truly met (as in interacted and became friends), he shows it, having worn it on a chain as a reminder of what he had lost.<br/>"Then… if that's all it was we can start all over again, can't we?"<br/>"Al… I can't"<br/>"What? Why not?! I thought we just cleared up those misunderstandings!"<br/>"I can't Al! It's more complicated than that”<br/>“How could it possibly be more complicated!”<br/>“I’m engaged Al!”<br/>Silence as Al stares at Matt in shock<br/>“W-What?”<br/>“I’m engaged Al, I’m getting married soon”<br/>“I-who…?”<br/>“My fiance is Gil, and I love him very much. I can’t… I can’t just throw away something I already love, for something that might not even work out, Al. Maybe those misunderstandings weren’t a coincidence, maybe they were signs to show that we shouldn’t be together if such small mistakes can become something exponentially bigger.”<br/>Turns out pretty soon after he moved, almost a year after, Mattie got in a relationship with Gil<br/>Gil had proposed just days prior to Al's accident<br/>“But Mattie… I love you”<br/>“*bitter chuckle* Once upon a time Al, you saying that, would have made me feel like I was on cloud nine. Once upon a time, that would have been enough to make me change my mind. And maybe, once upon a time that would have been all you needed to say to make it all okay again. But life isn’t a fairytale Al, we’re adults now, we’ve outgrown fairytales, and once upon a time, simply isn’t an option anymore.”<br/>Al drops his head in disappointment and sadness, Matt grabs his chin and forces Al to see him.<br/>“*sigh* Listen Al, though I may not love you the way I once did, know that there will always be a special place for you in my heart. As my first friend, my first love, my first heartbreak, but over all, as my best friend. Please don’t blame Gil, or anyone else, things just worked out the way they did and now we have to deal with the outcome, even if we don’t want to.”<br/>They hug it out and Al finally lets go, and becomes Mattie's bridesmaid/best man (after a couple weeks of hesitation on Al’s part)<br/>Francis also goes as Arthur's plus one (It doesn't show, but is implied that they might be dating)<br/>Al meets Kiku, at bar of after party.<br/>And they all lived happily ever after!<br/>Maybe</p>
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